The availability of free email marketing software means that most companies will make a bit of an effort when it comes to working out the best time of day and day of the week for sending their marketing emails. The good news is that few take the extra step of going for the best time when it comes to long term cyclical events.

It is obvious that if you sell tennis rackets then you need to get your campaign going in time for the post Wimbledon Tournament rush. However, there are more subtle events, ones that are easy to miss.

You will not be surprised to discover that the returns from your email marketing software are an essential tool. I find it best to view the results of, as an example, completion rates as a graph over a period of 14 months. In this way I cover the whole year and any variation of a month is included.

What you will see is a line across the centre of the graph. In the unlikely event it is perfectly level then good for you. You can stop reading this and do some planning. But if, after taking into consideration the various campaigns you have run, you find a slight variation, just a glitch, then you have an opportunity.

Remember that a 1% increase is substantial when viewed from a completion rate point of view so ensure that your scaling makes such a small variation obvious. The next thing to do is check with a previous year to see if a similar spike occurred at the same time. You should also see if the spike is repeated during the year.

You now have a choice. You can either just run with the information and time particular campaigns to take advantage of this spike or you could, maybe even should, work out why the completion rate suddenly increased. If you supply sportswear you might discover the time when those contemplating taking part in the London Marathon buy their kit.

If so then you will know what products to push and what particular time of the year will give the best completion rates. All it takes is a little extra effort.